[hooneybadger]

Hi all, looking at buying an E91 and the front wing is rusty, see photo, and MOT history shows "coil spring corroded both front" for the last 2 MOTs as advisories.
Front tyres are also showing as nearly out of tread.

Would anyone know rough costs for fixing all these? I'd budgeted about £1K for the bodywork and am thinking another £1K for the shocks and rubber.

Let me know thoughts on whether to go with this, or if I'm walking into an immediate heavy outlay of £. Cheers!

[StradaRedlands]

It looks like it could be a nice car, and as long as you know the problems and it's priced accordingly, should be fine. Tires are going to be an expensive part of this most likely. If those are 18" wheels, quality ones (Michelin, Conti) will push you close to £1K alone.
The wing/fender is VERY easy to replace if you can source a used matching one. I actually installed an eBay one I found in the UK and shipped to California. Might even be the same A51 Montego Blue! You can't have it back! Two bolts in the door jam, two attaching to the bumper cover, and three or four along the top in the engine compartment. So if you can source the part, you or your mechanic can install it easily. Find a shop that will do it for a reasonable cost, it's a no-drama thing.
If springs are corroded, they could be a safety concern. You don't want one snapping on you! But if you're going to do springs, you should do struts & shocks, and that means all the rubber bushings, mounts, and bearings associated with them. Probably around £1.5K just in parts??? I don't know how much installation would be, but it's going to be up there even though it's not a super hard job. Rear shocks are a little bit harder to install on an E91 as you have to disassemble the cargo area trim a bit to access the upper mounts.
Anyway, that's a long response without a definite answer in it, just data points that can help your figuring it out.

Pretty color, and is it a true M Sport, or just wheels? If full M Sport package on it, that's a keeper. VERY rare here in the States, especially on an E91. Whatever the costs of keeping it going, they're going to be less than a new car payment over time, right! Good luck and report back on your decisions!

[hooneybadger]

Originally Posted by StradaRedlands

It looks like it could be a nice car, and as long as you know the problems and it's priced accordingly, should be fine. Tires are going to be an expensive part of this most likely. If those are 18" wheels, quality ones (Michelin, Conti) will push you close to £1K alone.
The wing/fender is VERY easy to replace if you can source a used matching one. I actually installed an eBay one I found in the UK and shipped to California. Might even be the same A51 Montego Blue! You can't have it back! Two bolts in the door jam, two attaching to the bumper cover, and three or four along the top in the engine compartment. So if you can source the part, you or your mechanic can install it easily. Find a shop that will do it for a reasonable cost, it's a no-drama thing.
If springs are corroded, they could be a safety concern. You don't want one snapping on you! But if you're going to do springs, you should do struts & shocks, and that means all the rubber bushings, mounts, and bearings associated with them. Probably around £1.5K just in parts??? I don't know how much installation would be, but it's going to be up there even though it's not a super hard job. Rear shocks are a little bit harder to install on an E91 as you have to disassemble the cargo area trim a bit to access the upper mounts.
Anyway, that's a long response without a definite answer in it, just data points that can help your figuring it out.

Pretty color, and is it a true M Sport, or just wheels? If full M Sport package on it, that's a keeper. VERY rare here in the States, especially on an E91. Whatever the costs of keeping it going, they're going to be less than a new car payment over time, right! Good luck and report back on your decisions!

Hey SR! Thanks so much for the detailed response! I decided against it in the end, if it was nearby I would have at least gone to see it, but there were too many doubts about condition and history. Once I've factored in all the parts/labour/transport etc - albeit a fun little mission - I may as well just pay more for one in a decent state!
Like you say, super rare, and that almost gave me blinkers to the bad parts, but the hunt continues!
Thanks again for the reply, very helpful and appreciated.

HB

[StradaRedlands]

Originally Posted by hooneybadger

Hey SR! Thanks so much for the detailed response! I decided against it in the end, if it was nearby I would have at least gone to see it, but there were too many doubts about condition and history. Once I've factored in all the parts/labour/transport etc - albeit a fun little mission - I may as well just pay more for one in a decent state!
Like you say, super rare, and that almost gave me blinkers to the bad parts, but the hunt continues!
Thanks again for the reply, very helpful and appreciated.

HB

I've walked away from plenty where not enough variables added up :-)

[Silver Streek]

Wise choice to walk away. Sods law as soon as you bought it you would have seen another in better condition.
Keep an eye out the right one will come up.